Biography

First of all, WELCOME to this website.

It contains descriptions of all the books published in Catalan, and also one published (also) in Spanish; of all the collective short story collections (all in Catalan) to which I have contributed pieces, as well as of my one published book in English and two unpublished books in that language. Where possible, I have included extracts from reviews and pdf samples of some of the texts.

Should you wish to buy any of these books, please feel very free to do so. Most of them are presented with direct links to online bookstores.

Also on this site you will find, in chronological order, all the articles and lectures published in Catalan and English since 1990 which might still be worth taking a look at.

If you wish to make any comments or send a message, there is a contact link. However, should you wish to insult me or send death threats (this has happened occasionally) you should know that no messages can be sent without first supplying a valid email address.

There follows a short professional biography (in the third person). For a more detailed and unprofessional biography, please go to the book called 'Memòries!' (2004). (Or in English, to 'Calling Card' (2006)).

Matthew Tree was born in London in 1958. He taught himself Catalan in 1979. He came to live in Barcelona in 1984. He began to publish in 1990.

He has been a member of the Germans Miranda writers' collective and has contributed stories to all their anthologies: 'Aaaaaaagh' (1998); 'El Barça o la vida' (1999); 'Tocats d'amor' (2000); 'Contes per a nenes dolentes' (2001) i 'La vida sexual dels Germans M.' (2002) and 'Adéu, Pujol!' (2003). All published by Columna. He has also contributed non-fiction pieces to two collective books about Barcelona: 'Què fas aquest diumenge?' (La Magrana, 2002) and 'Barcelona Acròstic' (Destino/Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2002). He has also contributed two short stories to the following anthologies: 'L'hora del conte' (La Galera, 2006) and 'Contes coordinats' (Ed. Montflorit, 2006).

He has contributed columns and fiction to the following newsapers and magazines: Diari AVUI, The Times, El Temps, Lletra de Canvi, Matador, The Metropolitan, The Edinburgh Review, The Dalhousie Review, El País, Cave Canis, El Periódico de Catalunya i Time Out Barcelona Guide.
He currently contributes articles to The Times Literary Supplement (occasionally), the El Punt Avui newspaper (every Sunday), Catalonia Today magazine (every month) and Barcelona INK magazine (whenever it comes out).

He has been a contributor to and occasional presenter of the following radio and TV stations: TV3 ('La Cosa Nostra', 'Tenim paraula'), Ràdio Contrabanda, Ona Catalana, BBC World, el BBC World Service i RAC 1. He was co-scriptwriter and presenter of the infotainment series 'Passatgers' (TV3, 2005, 2006). He currently appears monthly on Catalunya Ràdio's 'Oracle' debate programme.

For over ten years he has given readings of his work in Catalonia, Valencia, Majorca, England, Ireland and Califòrnia.